Pre-cutting paddocks for dairy cows

Milk producers from Banbridge recently attended a grazing management short course on the farm of Frank & Colin Boggs, Cloverhill, Loughbrickland.  The focus of the event was using the technique of pre-cutting grassin the grazing paddocks.  This has a number of benefits:

A disc mower is used to cut the grass approximately 12 hours before the cows are turned into the paddock and the technique works especially well during dry weather.  The 125 cow herd at Cloverhill are currently grazing 26 ha (65 acres) in a 21 day rotation and yielding 27.5 l/day on 2kg concentrate.  Grazed grass is therefore contributing maintenance plus 23 litres - an excellent figure, demonstrating that even at current milk prices, grazed grass can still contribute significantly to the dairy cow diet.  Managing grazing swards mid-season to produce quality grass is a real challenge.  But Frank and Colin are committed to providing the dairy herd with every opportunity to efficiently use grass for economic milk producers.  The farmers attending the training were able to see first hand how they could make use of this technique on their on-farm and the pros and cons.

For more information on the technique contact your local dairy development adviser.

Colin Boggs discussing pre-cutting paddocks with a group of visiting farmers